Event Photography

70th Birthday at FOTA Island Golf Club Cork by Jan

Birthdays are always special occasions and a great opportunity to invite your favourite people and have a big party. Having said that, some birthdays are bigger than others, and in my experience as a photographer, the 70th birthday always seems to be the most celebrated!

Yvonne's 70th birthday party took place at the illustrious FOTA Island Golf Club, just outside Cork city. With the event room placed right next to the lovely greenery and on the edge of the golf course, it wasn’t just a lovely venue but also a blast to photograph. The place was buzzing with more than 100 guests. It was a mix of family and friends, all ready to celebrate Yvonne’s big day. And you could tell she was having a great time, running around welcoming each group of guests that were arriving and introducing everyone to each other. This made capturing the event a breeze!

It’s magic!

As part of the entertainment of this evening, there was also a magician roaming around, delighting the guests with fun magic tricks. People were laughing and freaking out in equal measure by these party tricks. As you can tell by their reactions, it got a great reaction!

Yvonne was also absolutely delighted with her presents, being gifted several art pieces from local artists. It's always so much fun to see someone really enjoying their special day.

Now, let's talk decorations; from a wall full of donuts calling your name, fancy cocktails flowing, and the name "Yvonne" was shining in mirrored letters. Plus, there was a photo backdrop where guests could snap selfies with funky sunglasses and hats, or have me do a photo shoot with them.

I moved through the crowd, capturing all of these lovely, candid moments of laughter, cheers, and the occasional gasp of amazement from the magician, it was a blast to be a part of this birthday party.

Yvonne's turning 70, but you wouldn't know it from the energy in those photos. Here's to keeping the party going!

Avril's Birthday - Event Photographer Cork by Jan

Happy Birthday!

Celebrating Avril’s birthday was a big occasion, and her partner, Stephen, pulled out all the stops! Booking ‘The Mirror Room’ at the River Lee Hotel, just above their ‘Lookout Room’. It’s located right on the river Lee with it’s own balcony and huge windows letting in so much sunlight. A gorgeous spot! Decorated really nicely as well.

This is my best attempt at a paparazzi shot of the couple walking into the venue!

Paparazzi

This is my best attempt at a paparazzi shot of the couple walking into the venue!

Now we won’t say which birthday Avril was celebrating, but check out this beautiful ‘Happy Birthday’ flower wall. We had a lot of fun using this as a backdrop for some fun group photos, and even a little couple shoot, which poor Avril and Stephen had to do in front of all their friends. It would come to no surprise that there was a good amount of heckling coming from the crowd! But they soldiered on and did a fantastic job!

To cover the entertainment side of things, we had a pair of singers belting out some amazing tunes and a magician who was mystifying groups of guests with his tricks. I still can’t figure out where those coins came from or went to!

Having the magician there was a really fun intro for everyone to get comfortable and skip the formal hellos. It was a great idea to have him there and had all guests so engaged with his act. Well done to him!

Dancing the Night Away

But finally we get to my favourite part of the night! The dancing! As you can probably tell from these photos, I had a lot of fun photographing these ‘action’ shots. With this heavier editing style, I was going for a really specific look. These photos clearly look very different to the very clean and vibrant photos from the beginning of the night. I wouldn’t do this style with necessarily every group, but everyone here was so fun and in such a party mood, that I was confident it was appropriate.

My Favourites

Out of all the dancing photos, the shots of Avril and Stephen dancing together are my favourites. They look so intimate at times, as if they’re the only two people in the world. I love that vibe that these photos give off. Very cute!

This is a great time to congratulate Stephen for stepping out of his comfort zone to dance, which he wouldn’t have done if I hadn’t have “encouraged” him to go on the dance floor for this photo opportunity. Haha!

A long night of good company, drink, food and dancing and singing. What more could you want? A very successful night!

If you would like to book me to photograph your event, say hello here and we can chat about pricing and availability and all about your event plans!

And if you’d prefer a portrait shoot instead, I also offer the following types of photography:

Couples Photography in Cork

Wedding Photography in Cork

Family Portrait Photography in Cork

• and more!

Karen's Surprise Birthday Party - Event Photography Cork by Jan

Surpriiise! And let me show you, what a surprise this birthday party was. I’d say, everyone involved did a fantastic job for Karen to not suspect a thing!

Karen Underwood is a famous jazz singer, originally from Chicago, now living in Cork city. Her daughter Christiana, also a well known singer, decided to throw this big surprise party for her mom’s 60th birthday. Sending her to the lovely Cork Opera House under the ruse that she was going to be interviewed about her singing, there were over 100 loved ones waiting for her in anticipating silence. Ready to shout ‘surprise’ at any moment!

The Cork Opera House was such a fitting venue as well, with so many of the guests being musicians and artists, the birthday party also included a full concert with songs written and performed specifically for Karen. She was enjoying the show from her very own birthday throne!

This birthday party was such a joyous celebration and such a fun event to capture as a photographer. People cried, laughed, danced and sang. Everyone enjoyed their drinks, and White Rabbit even catered the evening, which was a lovely surprise for me!

5 star Google review from Christiana

There was so much to capture that evening, and I made sure not to miss any of those special moments. Christiana, who organized the whole event, wrote me this lovely review:

“Omg! Jannik is amazing. He really understands capturing the moment but not being in invasive. He matched the colouring of the photos to my theme without me even mentioning it. My friends and family all look so beautiful and vibrant, I've been able to relive, laughing till I cry, my Mom's birthday all over again. You won't be disappointed! THANK YOU!”

If you would like to book me as your event photographer, you can contact me here for pricing and availablity. And remember I am also available for the following:

Couples Photography in Cork

Family Portrait Photography in Cork

Wedding Photography in Cork

• and more!